K9 Kamp celebrates expansion, addition to chamber of commerce

After planning their expansion for the past few years, Kamp K9 and Kitties Too finally saw that dream become reality.

Owner Tiffany Luttrell-Thorpe explained the new addition of pet boarding to their pet business has been in the works for some time.

"We just now opened the boarding part of our facility a couple of months ago, but it's been in the planning for three years," Thorpe said. "It's finally here and it's really exciting."

To celebrate the new addition and to officially welcome the business into the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce, K9 Kamp held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.

"Oh my gosh, I've been waiting for this," Thorpe said of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "We've been part of the chamber for two years now and I've been really excited for this day."

Kamp K9 offers an array of services, including grooming, day care and boarding for valley pet lovers' needs. Thorpe said that the establishment has offered its grooming service since 2013, ever since she moved to town and opened up the business, which she said has helped build their clientele, which she hope expands with their latest service.

"We've planned this all along, but we were just building the building. It is brand new," Thorpe said. "Going through the permits and the zoning, the public works and everything, it just took time to get through every stage of the building."

Before making her way to Pahrump, Thorpe lived over the hump working at one of the hotel-casinos.

"I lived in Vegas and I worked at the Rio Hotel and Casino for 14 years and decided that it really wasn't my calling and a friend of mine was going to grooming school and I thought it sounded like fun," she said. "I went to grooming school and got a job at a salon in Vegas."

While working there for 5 years, Thorpe got all of her training completed at the salon and had a chance offer change her life.

"My dad approached me and asked me if I was interested in owning my own business and I had been doing dogs after work, so I kind of had a clientele," Thorpe said. "So we started looking for properties where we might be able to grow into the boarding and the day care and Las Vegas had nothing to offer.

"You can't live on a property and do a business, it was all a different zoning."

After not being satisfied with what Vegas had to offer business space-wise, Thorpe thought of a location that had never crossed her mind before.

"Pahrump popped into my mind out of nowhere. I believe God led me to this place," Thorpe said. "We started on a napkin with a design and began working out of my garage and everything has just gone so smoothly after that. Everything has just fallen into place."

The new boarding addition offers fifteen 6x12 cabins with skylights outside, televisions inside switched to the Dog Channel in each space and scheduled playtime each day, with the pets' comfort and well-being being among the top priorities for K9 Kamp.

Thorpe said that pet owners are asked to bring their pet's own bed, food and toys with them so they feel more at home.

In addition to those features, customers that keep their pet at K9 Camp have the luxury of keeping an eye out on their loved one no matter where they may be.

"We have Internet access so that owners can watch their dogs when they're gone and see what they're up to when they start missing them," Thorpe said. "Each individual kennel has its own Internet service with a password that they can go on and watch their dog 24/7."

There is no limit on how long or short an animal is kept at K9 Kamp, and Thorpe said they will work with each customer to make sure their individual needs are met.

Although the latest expansion of the business is still fresh, Thorpe is already looking toward the future, aiming at capturing new customers who might not want all the bells and whistles that the current boarding facility houses.

"We're already thinking about having another building built with the same quality cabins, but not having the Internet, the TV's and not having the fancy everything and calling it 'Roughing it at Kamp K9,'" she said. "The services would be offered at a lower cost. Same care, same everything, but open up the clientele that might not be able to afford the ones with all the amenities.

Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.